Exercising device



March 27, 1934. F. L. GAILEY ExRoIsING DEVICE Filed June 7, 1932Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to an exercising device of the particular typedisclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,866,024, issued to me July 5, 1932,and the principal objects of my present invention are, to generallyimprove upon and simplify the construction of the exercising devicedisclosed in my aforesaid patent, further, to provide a foot engagingplate that is stiff and rigid so that it will not ilex as a result ofpulling strains applied to the ends of the plate or as a result ofpushing strains imparted to the plate by the feet while the device is inuse and further, to provide the foot plate with an enclosing jacket orsheath of flexible material and a portion of which latter H is in theform of a pad that is positionedso as to be engaged by the feet that areapplied to the foot plate while the exercising device is in use.

With the foregoingand other objects in View, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangements of parts thatwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of an exercising device, constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational View of the device.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end portion of the foot engagingplate.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing which illustrates apreferred embodiment of my invention, 10 designates a stiff rigidplate,` preferably formed of metal, said plate being twelve or fourteeninches in length and three or four inches in width. The end portions 11of this plate are bent at right angles to the plane occupied by the mainbody portion of the plate and formed integral with the upper ends of theupturned portions 11 are short tubular loops or eyes 12.

These loops or eyes receive the lower portions of metal rings 13 andconnected to said rings are links 14. Connected to these links 14 arethe lower ends of retractile springs 15 and connected to the upper endsof these springs, by means of links 16, are wire frames 17 on the upperends of which are mounted handles 18.

Plate 10 and its upturned portions 11 are enclosed in a jacket or sheathcomprising an underlayer 19 of leather or heavy fabric such as canvasand upon layer 20 of the sheath comprises l a layer of cushioningmaterial such as felt.

The side edges of the outer layer 19 and the upper layer 20 are securedto each other in any suitable manner, preferably by rows .of stitch- 69ing 2l.

The end portions of the underlayer 19 terminate adjacent to the upperends of the upturned end portions 11 of plate10 and the end portions ofthe layer 20 ofcushioning material extend a 35 substantial distanceabove the upper ends of the end members 11 and terminate adjacent to theupper portions of links 14.

The end portions of theV sheathl comprising flexible member 19 andcushion member 20 are 70 secured to the upturned end portions 11 ofplate 10 by means of rivets 22 and thus the sheath is retained againstlongitudinal movement upon the plate. 1

The intermediate portion of the cushion member 20 of the sheath isfolded double to provide a transverse wall or partition 23 that islocated at a point midway between the upturned ends of the foot plateand this transverse wall functions as a cushioning partition that ispositioned` between the feet that are placed on the foot plate when theexercising device is in use. Y

The lower portions of the two thicknesses of material forming thetransverse cushion partition 23 are united by one or more rows ofstitch- `35 ing 24.

In the use of my improved exercising device, the user lying `on thefloor or on a bed or couch, places the feet against the cushioned orpadded surface of the foot plate between the partition `9 0 the handlesaway from the foot engaging plate 49,5

and these movements of the feet and legs as well as the arms areyieldingly resisted by the springs 15 and as the pushing and pullingmovements are terminated the springs will draw the foot plate andhandles toward each other until the springs are entirely collapsed.

As the movements just described are repeated, practically all muscles inthe arms, limbs and body of the user will be alternately stretched andcontracted, thereby producing the desired exerk1 05 cise of muscles andat the Sametime increasing the blood flow through the veins so thatpractically the entire body will be greatly benefitted as a result ofthe exercise.

In some instances the foot plate may be placed 1.10

on the floor with the feet position on said plate to the sides of thetransverse partition 23 and the user now pulls upwardly on the handles18 to expand the springs 15 and this action is particularly effective inexercising the muscles in the back and shoulders, also the arms andlegs.

In order to stimulate heart action so as to increase the ow of bloodinto and through the neck and head, the user of the exerciser lies proneupon a bed or couch with the head extending beyond the edge of the bedor couch and somewhat lower than the body. Where the exerciser is usedunder such conditions the heart action is stimulated, therebycorrespondingly lstimulating and increasing the circulation of the bloodto the glands in the neck and head, also through the veins and to thenerves of the brain.

As long as the head is maintained in substantially the same plane withthe body -or lower than the body, the gravitational resistance to theflow of blood to the neck and head is materially reduced and thisreduced resistance is of material assistance in increasing the iiow ofblood produced as a result of the increased heart action developed whilethe exerciser is being used.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an v exercising device that isrelatively simple of construction, inexpensive of manufacture and veryeffective in performing the functions for which it is intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in fthe size, form, andconstruction of the various parts of my improved exercising device maybe made and substituted for those herein shown and described withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is setforth in the appended claims.

I lclaim as my invention:

1. An exercising device, comprising a rigid plate `'having integralup-turned end portions, retractile springs connected to said up-turnedend portions, handles connected to said springs, a sheath composed oftwo layers of material enclosing said plate and up-turned end portions,the overlying member Vof which sheath comprises a layer of relatively-thick soft, flexible material so as to provide a pad, the intermediateportion of which overlying member is folded double so as to provide atransverse partition across the center of the plate and the end portionsof the overlying member being extended upwardly to points above theupper edges of the up-turned end portions of said plate so as to provideprotection for the outer portions of the feet of the user.

2. An exercising device, comprising a rigid plate having integralupturned end portions, retractile springs connected to said up-turnedend portions, handles connected to said springs, a sheath composed oftwo layers of material enclosing said plate and up-turned end portions,the overlying member of which sheath comprises a layer of relativelythick, soft, liexible material so as to provide a pad, the intermediateportion of which overlying member is folded double so as to provide atransverse partition across the center of the plate, the end portions ofthe overlying member being extended upwardly to points above the upperedges of the up-turned end portions of said plate so as to provideprotection for the outer portions of the feet of the user and .fasteningmeans passing through the up-turned end portions of the plate and theadjacent portions of 4100 said sheath.

3. An exercising device, comprising a rigid plate having up-turned endportions, loops formed integral with the upper ends of said up-turnedend portions, rings carried by said loops, retractile 105 springsconnected to said'rings, handles connected to said retractile springs, asheath enclosing said plate and its upturned ends, said sheathcomprising upper and lower members, the upper member comprising a layerof relatively thick, soft, v-llO flexible 'material to form a pad, theend portions of which upper member extend upwardly-past 'the upturnedends of the plate and past the loops and Vrings carried by saidup-turned end portions to provide padded guards for the feet of the-l-15 user, fastening means passing through the upturned end portions ofsaid plate and both layers of the sheath and the intermediate portion ofthe upper member of the sheath being folded double to provide atransverse partition on the upper `3120 portion of the plate.

FLORENCE L. GAILEY.

